A striking new development comes out of Sony Headquarters once again, which was to be expected. This time, it’s discontinuing stand-alone 4K Ultra HD disc players, leaving PlayStation 5 the only Sony option currently available that will play physical media even without Dolby Vision encoding.
No, my dear friends, it’s Panasonic being the only real option left. As a legacy electronics company with decades of world-class experience, it’s categorically the only option left. When Sony’s current game console phases out soon, a new gadget for the consumer masses will arise, and this time there will be absolutely no way to play your movie, music and game discs. And no turning back, either.
It’s a good thing I bought my second 4K player, a Panasonic just over a year ago, and I hope it lasts. 4K movies still run smoothly on it without evidence of playback problems like skips and frozen screens. I bought this because the previous purchase of a Sony 4K player was becoming unreliable at playing 4K movies. Sure, the DVDs and 1080p Blu-rays run just fine. In fact, many disappointed users reported playback issues of 4K discs to the point of becoming a useless piece of tech trash. Did Sony really know about this? They might have manufactured them on purpose just to make you boiling mad as they try to coerce you into streaming.
The news of Sony’s current 4K player was cited in a Japanese blog called Kunkoko, confirming that its model number UBP-X700K device is no longer in stock. Needless to say, this doesn’t bode well for physical media’s future in the eyes of fans and collectors. Sony wasn’t the only company to pull the plug on disc players — remember Oppo? — but it desperately wants you to have a physical-free future where your only option is hooking up wireless broadband and scrolling through feeds and databases of content that will expire at some point. The catalyst behind it all is the upcoming PlayStation 6, which is expected to be all digital only — no disc, no dice.
Panasonic, on the other hand, will be the only legacy electronics manufacturer from Japan left standing. The company still claims full support and dedication of the 4K Blu-ray format as of this writing. How long this lasts is a question that must be asked, however, because any home electronics gadget sold on the market today is under the weight of high tariffs embedded into the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. Soaring shipping costs and taxes only add to the pain. This, my friends, is going to make buying these things nearly impossible if you’re in the middle or lower class. They may have to give up a little control for convenience plus ads for our entertainment fix.
New and alternative producers from China and Australia are reportedly interested in making new 4K players while offsetting Sony’s exodus, according to one news source. But if consumers don’t have sufficient funds available to spend on them, and if complaints of quality and reliability issues begin to flood, then perhaps people will be forced to stream cruddy looking movies over owning all physical media of redeeming value. With the way this sorry economy is unraveling right now, I think physical media will be out of reach for many of us, so it’s up to serious collectors with big bank accounts to reap the benefits.
And yet, new titles and release dates on the 4K format have steadily climbed in frequency thanks to specialty distributors and rising consumer awareness, giving many fans a wider range of content to choose, from little-seen cult classics to the latest releases. In ten years time, it has prospered, and surely it can’t afford to lose all of the support we gave into it. Remember that vinyl records have enjoyed a resurgence in modern memory, and the same thing goes for tapes and discs.
Sony’s departure from video disc players in any format is deeply troubling. Panasonic will be left lonely enough to result in consumer choices and preferences that will be mighty scarce. People from all over the world know Sony and Panasonic best, and more than any no-name brand like Boifun that ever exists. We may very well have a future where consumers are forced to choose between an el cheapo $200 4K player that breaks down after a few months of use, or $200 monthly for a cocktail of streaming services that provide exactly what consumers want to watch. It’s either that, or a far higher price tag on so-called ‘premium’ models including a $12,000 4K device from a brand called Magnetar.
And if buying and owning physical media directly from e-tailers like Gruv means free access to keeping your disc player fed with content, then you’d better hope you obtain a top-tier subscription to Sony’s anime service Crunchyroll to have the privilege of buying any physical media from its members-only store. Pretty soon, we all may have to buy subscriptions to buy anything physical. Is this the future you want? You might want to stop and think about that for a moment.
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